Claude Code CLI cannot read .docx files

Description

Claude Code CLI cannot read .docx files — the Read tool rejects them as binary. Meanwhile, Claude on the web (claude.ai) handles uploaded .docx documents natively.

Expected behavior

Claude Code should be able to read .docx files the same way the web interface can, especially since it runs on the same machine where the files are stored.

Current behavior

This tool cannot read binary files. The file appears to be a binary .docx file.
Please use appropriate tools for binary file analysis.

Use case

Users working with Word documents (business plans, templates, reports) expect the same document handling capability across Claude interfaces. Having to export to PDF or paste as text is a friction-heavy workaround.

Environment

• Claude Code CLI on Windows 10 (WSL)
• Model: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context)